Gun bearer



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' gun BEARER Filed Aug. '4, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR. dzr/fm Jl-J/azy United States Patent 3,498,511 GUN BEARER Charles Morton Marg, 135Henley Road,

Overbrook Hills, Pa. 19151 Filed Aug. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 661,755 Int. Cl.A45f /00, 3/00 U.S. C]. 224-1 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thecombination of a rigid gun holder incorporating sloping construction foruniversal accommodation of gun butts of all sizes rotatively secured toan adjustable, shoulder engaging harness in a swivel connection.

This invention relates to the general field of sporting goods, and moreparticularly is directed to devices designed and adapted as an aid forcarrying and transporting rifles, shotguns and similar types ofelongated firearms.

The invention relates to a novel and distinctive combination of a rigidgun holder and an attached adjustable harness for carrying a firearm.The device has been designed primarily for use by civilian sportsmen andhunters, but it is noted that the invention could find equal utilitywhen used by military personnel in training and combat operations. Moreparticularly, the invention enables the wearer to carry his riflle orshotgun in an accepted ready position suitable for almost instantaneousaiming and firing.

Since timing is one of the major factors in hunting, and the delay ofseconds could spell the difference between success and failure, it ismost critical to have the gun ready to shootat all times. Similarly, inmilitary type of operations, a .short delay in firing could even meanthe difference between life and death. It should be noted that huntersoften walk long distances and carry relatively heavy firearms for longperiods of time. Under such circumstances, the arms of the hunter beginto tire and reflexes are slowed to the extent that often, the gun cannotbe properly brought to the firing position in the time interval requiredto take proper aim and to fire when the target is finally sighted.

Prior workers in the field have recognized the need to properly carry agun at the ready position without unduly tiring the hunter. Some haveattempted to provide a gun sling that attaches to the gun and then maybe carried upon the shoulder. 'Such devices are unsatisfactory in thatthe gun attaching portion of the sling encircles the gun barrel, therebyinterfering with sighting and aiming.

Other workers have tried to carry the rifle by attaching to a beltencircling the waist of the wearer. Such devices cause all of the weightof the gun to be carried upon the hips of the wearer, thereby causingdiscomfort and fatigue. Other gun carriers that are known fasten the gunto the shoulder of the hunter. Such devices provide an adequate aid incarrying the rifle, but permit no speed in bringing the gun to bear whenthe time for use is pressing. Still other devices carry the weapon upononly one shoulder or upon the neck of the user, thereby causingdiscomfort after only short periods of use. Other devices are known thatcarry the weapon too low or require alterations to the gun itself whenattaching. As can be seen, many workers have tried to solve the problem,but the very number of devices indicates the need for one, really good,properly designed, workable gun bearer.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improveddevice of the type set forth.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide 3,498,51 lPatented Mar. 3, 1970 a unique harness design in conjunction with arifle support capable of distributing the weight of a weapon over theback and shoulders of the user.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a gun bearerdesigned to carry a gun in the ready position to permit rapid aiming andfiring.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a unique gunbearer capable of accommodating weapons of various sizes.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a novel gunbearer arranged to support a rifle in the verticle position.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel one-pieceharness capable of adjustment to the size of any wearer with or withoutheavy outdoor clothing.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a uniqueone-piece harness that engages only the shoulders of the wearer with nobinding about the waist.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a novel gunbearer utilizing a single strap that permits the harness to be worn intwo distinct styles, to give the wearer a choice of style to best suithis physical and clothing limitations.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel rigid gunholder incorporating an inclined back plate.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel gun bearerincluding a swival which allows the gun to swing in conjunction withnatural body movements and conditions encountered in the field.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel gun bearerthat is inexpensive in manufacture, rugged in construction andtrouble-free when in use.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the in- 'vention will be hadby referring to the following description and claims of a preferredembodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingwherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention in use.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view showing a preferred front harnessarrangement.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view showing a modified front harnessarrangement.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view showing a modified front harnessarrangement.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view of the gun holder.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5, lookingin the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the gun holder.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged top plan view of the gun holder.

.FIG. 9 is a front elevational view showing a modified gun bearer forside use.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged top plan view of the gun holder of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged front elevational view of the gun holder of FIG.9.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the gun holder of FIG.9.

FIG. 13 is a cross section of view taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 10,looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view taken along line 1414 of FIG. 10,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Although specific terms are used in the following description for thesake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to theparticular structure of my invention selected for illustration in thedrawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of theinvention.

Referring now to the drawings, I show in FIG. 1 a gun bearer constructedin accordance with the instant invention comprising in combination anelongated flexible harness 10 connected to a rigid, shaped, gun holder12 through a swivel loop 14.

As best seen in FIGS. -8, the gun holder 12 comprises a flat, generallyrectangular back plate 16 and a gun socket 18 extending forwardlytherefrom. A swivel bolt 20 rearwardly secures the loop 14 to the backplate 16 in any well-known manner to readily permit the gun holder toswivel about the harness so as to accommodate any position that a rifleor shotgun 22 may assume during carrying or transporting operations.

The gun socket 18 inclines forwardly from the back plate 16 and ishollowed to provide a gun receiving recess 24. The socket floor 26 isgenerally flat and inclines forwardly and downwardly from the backplate16. The floor 26 forwardly joins a toe receiving recess 28 whichdeclines at a greater angle than the socket floor itself to provide asecure area to firmly accommodate the toe 36 of a gun butt. The forwardwall 30 of the gun socket 18 is accurately formed to lock the gun buttin the gun socket, in cooperation with the back plate 16. As shown inFIGS. 5 and 8, the back plate 16 is provided with a vertical, mediallypositioned trough 34 to receive the heel 38 of the gun butt 32. It isthe essence of this invention to fabricate the lineal distance betweenthe recess 28 and the base of the vertical trough 34 smaller than thefront to back distance at the base of the average gun stock. In thismanner, the toe 36 of the butt will be forced into the recess 29 and theheel 38 will ride in the trough 34 until wedging contact is made. Theheel 38 will wedge higher in the trough 34 in the case of larger gunbutts and lower in the case of smaller gun butts. In all instanceshowever, the wedging action is exactly the same and the gun butt 32 isretained securely between the recess 28 and the trough 34.

Right and left side walls 40, 42 complete the gun socket 18 and extendrespectively between the back plate 16 and one side of the accuratelycurved front wall 30. It is contemplated that the gun holder 12 can bemanufactured of separate wooden members which are adequately glued andotherwise secured in well-known manner to provide a unitary structure ofthe strength required to carry a rifle or shotgun. Alternately, the gunholder may be molded of a suitable plastic material, such aspolyethylene, to provide a rigid, hard, gun holding assembly. A hole 44is provided at the lowest point of the recess 28 for drainage purposesduring inclement weather conditions.

In FIGS. 1-4, I show the harness 10 which is unique in that it isfabricated from a single, continuous strip of webbing, preferably twoinches in width for optimum comfort when carrying a heavy weapon overlong distances, and which is further unique for its adoptability intotwo distinctly different methods of attachment to the torso of the useras hereinafter set forth. As seen in FIG. 2, the gun bearer 12 ismedially positioned at the front of the wearer and the harness 10 isadjusted with its center point at the swivel loop 14. The equal segments46, 48 are respective placed over the right and left shoulders of theuser 50 and are crossed in the back. The harness ends 52, 54 are thenbrought to the front about the waist of the user and the end snapfasteners 56, 58 are engaged upon the waiting parts which are securednear the center of the harness 10. A plurality of snap fasteners may bespaced near the harness ends 52, 54 as at 60, 62 to permit harnesslength adjustment to accommodate various torso sizes. Further adjustmentwith this type of arrangement is possible, as shown in FIG. 3, bycrossing the harness ends 52, 54 in front of the body as at 64. In thismanner, the snap fasteners 56, 58 are engageable upon the waiting partretained within the opposite harness segment 48, 46 and thus results insubstantial shortening of the effective harness length. It is thus seenthat adjustment by utilizing the spaced snaps 56, 58, 60, 62 and furtheradjustment by crossing the harness ends 52, 54 is possible to suit thecomfort of the individual user.

It should be noted that the harness arrangement illus- "trated in FIGS.1-3 is particularly suitable for cold weather in that the straps arespaced a distance from the wearers arm pits to thus leave adequatefreedom when heavy clothing must be worn. Further, it will be observedthat all of the weight of the weapon is carried upon the shoulders andlittle or none of the burden is supported about the waist. By employingtwo inch wide webbing, utmost comfort may be achieved by thus morewidely distributing the load.

In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 4, the gun holder is alsopositioned at the front of the user slightly below the waist. Theharness 10 is medially positioned in the swivel loop 14 and the dividedhalves 46, 48 rearwardly encircle the body of the user 50 below the armsto cross in back as at 70. The harness ends 52, 54 are carried over theshoulders for engagement with the snap fasteners 56, 58. As illustratedadditional snap fasteners 60, 62 may be provided as desired to allowcomplete adjustibality of the harness.

In a modification of the invention, I show a side carrying gun holder 72in FIGS. 9-14 which may more readily be adapted for military use. Itwill be appreciated that this same arrangement may also be worn at thefront by simply shifting the gun holder to the front. The gun holder 72may also be optionally worn at the front by arranging the harness strapsas in FIG. 2 or 4. The gun holder 72 attaches to a generally rectangularside plate 74 and the holder floor 76 extends at right angles from thebottom thereof to support the weight of the weapon 22. The floor 76inclines upwardly in a ramp 78 which extends laterally across the gunholder to receive the bottom of the gun butt 32. The front of the floor76 declines forwardly to form a butt receiving recess 80 to firmlyanchor the toe of the gun butt 32. The front wall 82 of the gun holderextends from the side plate 72 and is integrally formed with the sidewall 84 and the floor 76 to provide a sturdy structure. As best seen inFIG. 11, the front wall is accurately curved at the recess 80 tosecurely hold the toe of the gun butt therein. The side wall 84 isrelatively low to permit removal of the gun butt over the side with aminimum of interference and without binding.

The harness 86 attaches to the back of the side carrier through a loop88 which swivels about the swivel bolt 90 to permit adaptability of thegun holder 72 to the most comfortable position while transporting aweapon. I have found it most desirable to employ webbing of two inchesin width for this purpose to spread the weight as much as possible.

As shown in FIG. 9, the forward portion of the harness 86 is positionedwith respect to the gun socket 72 so as to be shorter than the sideharness portion 92. The forward portion 90 is carried diagonally acrossthe chest of the wearer 50 and 'over the shoulder opposite to the sidewhere the weapon is to be carried. The end 94 of the forward harnessportion 90 is then diagonally brought across the back and under thewearers arm at the weapon side. The end 94 is then engaged upon the sideharness portion 92 by joining the snap fastener elements 98. Theuppermost fastener element is usually employed. The side harness portion92 is carried rearwardly and upwardly over the shoulder, adjacent to theweapon 22 and diagonally downwardly across the back of the wearer 50.The forward end of the side harness portion 92 connects to the forwardharness portion 80 immediately above the gun socket 72 by utilizing thesnap fastener 104. It will be appreciated that additional snap fastenersmay be provided as at 106, 108 to permit complete adjustability of theharness 86.

As indicated in broken lines in FIG. 13, the gun butt 32 secures withinthe gun holder 72 through the action of the ramp 78 in cooperation withthe recess 80. The sole 110 of the gun butt 32 near the heel thereofrests upon the top of the ramp 78 thereby urging the toe of the 5 buttinto the recess 80. Th curved front wall 82, the side plate 72 and theside Wall 84 all cooperate to retain the gun butt 32 within the gunholder 72 during the carrying and transporting operations.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has beenmade only by way of example and that numerous changes in the deails ofconstruction and the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. [[n a gun bearer used for supporting a firearm stock including a butthaving a heel and a toe, the combination of:

(A) a rigid gun holder,

(1) said gun holder including a vertical back plate,

(a) said back plate being provided with an axially alinged, verticaltrough,

(1) said trough being adapted to receive the heel of the said butttherein,

(2) said gun holder further including a rigid gun socket attached at oneend thereof of the said back plate,

(a) said gun socket being downwardly inclined from the said back plate,

(b) said gun socket being formed to provide gun butt toe receivingrecess;

(B) a loop secured to the back of the said back plate (1) said loopbeing attached in a swivel connection; and

6 (C) a one piece harness associated with the said back plate and beingthreaded through the said loop,

(1) said harness being provided with length adjusting means. 2. Theinvention of claim 1 wherein the said trough 5 extends the entire heightof the said back plate.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the shortest distance between thefront of the said gun butt toe receiving recess and the said trough isless than the front to back 10 distance of the said gun butt at the basethereof.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said gun butt toe receivingrecess declines at a greater angle from the said back plate than theremainder of the said gun socket.

5 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 919,301 4/1909 Anderson 224-32,543,703 2/1951 Pelto 2245 X 20 2,778,552 1/1957 Thompson 22413,342,387 9/1967 Ryan 2245 FOREIGN PATENTS 338,961 3/1936 Italy. 2

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner G. F. ABRAHAM, Assistant ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R.

